I think the old "Join us and we will bring order to the Galaxy" is the ultimate poisonous siren song of all the Sith.
The Sith master and apprenticeship recalls (for me) somewhat the relationship of Roman Emperor and Head of the Praetorian Guard, as obtained in the later empire, when being Head of the Guard in fact meant, next Emperor as soon as you could get rid of the old one.
In studying "Sith" for the purpose of a possibly Palpatine backstory fic, I think the comparisons with Ancient Rome howl at one.
There's two threads to the "join us" thing.
1. It's a con. You make that appeal to an enemy you wish to destroy - give him the choice, and if he agrees to join, you have his measure and can defeat him. That's what it was with Dooku and Obi-Wan - Dooku was seeking out Obi-Wan's weaknesses, as I see it.
2. It's a test. You make the appeal to an enemy you wish to recruit and his initiation is to take the place of your apprentice. That's Sidious's speciality. His apprentices are not strictly that, because he is never going to surrender the mastership voluntarily. His apprentices are to a greater or lesser extent, merely tools. Maul is sacrified to eliminate the very dangerous Qui-Gon. Dooku is sacrificed at the precise point when he may be a danger of giving away the secret of Darth Sidious, and also at the point when a more powerful tool is ready: Anakin.
Palpatine is actually two people. I believe Sidious is the product of his own lust for power and the outcome of the inevitable journey to the dark side. Palpatine is not some mad psycho (though Sidious may be), he's urbane, cultivated, and able to effortlessly interact with and fool everyone. He's far more socially functional than a psychopath. He can do that because he's playing himself as Palpatine.
Sidious is "stored" inside Palpatine - they are however inter-aware.
In the interests of a possible Palpatine backstory fic, I'm currently tracing the machinations of the senator, and later Chancellor. It's actually politically masterful, like a game of Dejarek.
Palpatine was playing a very long game indeed. That call to create order out of chaos is very seductive politically.
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The Sith master and apprenticeship recalls (for me) somewhat the relationship of Roman Emperor and Head of the Praetorian Guard, as obtained in the later empire, when being Head of the Guard in fact meant, next Emperor as soon as you could get rid of the old one.
In studying "Sith" for the purpose of a possibly Palpatine backstory fic, I think the comparisons with Ancient Rome howl at one.
There's two threads to the "join us" thing.
1. It's a con. You make that appeal to an enemy you wish to destroy - give him the choice, and if he agrees to join, you have his measure and can defeat him. That's what it was with Dooku and Obi-Wan - Dooku was seeking out Obi-Wan's weaknesses, as I see it.
2. It's a test. You make the appeal to an enemy you wish to recruit and his initiation is to take the place of your apprentice. That's Sidious's speciality. His apprentices are not strictly that, because he is never going to surrender the mastership voluntarily. His apprentices are to a greater or lesser extent, merely tools. Maul is sacrified to eliminate the very dangerous Qui-Gon. Dooku is sacrificed at the precise point when he may be a danger of giving away the secret of Darth Sidious, and also at the point when a more powerful tool is ready: Anakin.
Palpatine is actually two people. I believe Sidious is the product of his own lust for power and the outcome of the inevitable journey to the dark side. Palpatine is not some mad psycho (though Sidious may be), he's urbane, cultivated, and able to effortlessly interact with and fool everyone. He's far more socially functional than a psychopath. He can do that because he's playing himself as Palpatine.
Sidious is "stored" inside Palpatine - they are however inter-aware.
In the interests of a possible Palpatine backstory fic, I'm currently tracing the machinations of the senator, and later Chancellor. It's actually politically masterful, like a game of Dejarek.
Palpatine was playing a very long game indeed. That call to create order out of chaos is very seductive politically.